EXS 24 Logic Sampler Users Group

hehe - well that was hard work...no robot.

Thomas

--- In exs-users@yahoogroups.com, "Nikko" <nicolas@c...> wrote:
> 16 different velocities?
> this is impossible. i've a wurlitzer in front of me.
> how did you? with a kind of robots?
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Thomas Hansen Skarbye" <thomas@s...>
> To: <exs-users@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2003 10:02 AM
> Subject: [EXS] Scarbee W.E.P. is released!
> 
> 
> Scarbee is proud to present the Scarbee W.E.P., the most 
accurately 
> sampled Wurlitzer electric piano on planet earth!
> 
> The Scarbee W.E.P is a faithful reproduction of the classic 
> Wurlitzer 200A Electric Piano, recreating not only its signature 
> sound but also the unique dynamic response of the original 
> instrument, hereby continuing the new Vintage Keyboard product 
line 
> commenced with the recent release of the Scarbee R.S.P. '73 (the 
> Rhodes Stage Piano MK 1 - 73)
> 
> 
> Although the EP200A is a small piano, the project undertaken to 
> reproduce it in software has been huge. Prior to the commencement 
of 
> two months of recordings, a painstaking process of restoration 
> lasting six months was undertaken. This involved a range of 
measures 
> aimed at creating a `super' Wurlitzer piano which has perhaps the 
> highest signal to noise ratio of any yet produced. Sources of 
noise 
> and distortion, such as the power transformer, were made external 
to 
> the piano and audio-critical components were updated with higher 
> quality versions wherever possible.
> 
> 
> The Scarbee W.E.P. was recorded at 24 bit resolution through a 
> Mindprint En-Voice preamp (without any use of EQ, tube saturation 
or 
> compression), and then digitally transferred to a Nuendo AudioLink 
> 96 audio card.
> 
> How much detail is there in the instrument?
> In order to accurately reproduce the original EP200A's dynamics, 
> both the sustained and release sounds of each of the 64 keys of 
the 
> Wurlitzer has been sampled at 16 different velocities - resulting 
in 
> a total pool of over 2000 24 bit wav files.
> 
> All samples are full length and unlooped. Just as we did with the 
> Rhodes, release samples were recorded for each key. Not just one 
> release sample per key, but one release sample to correspond with 
> each sustain sample ( except those for the top 5 keys which have 
no 
> damper, causing the keys to ring out to their end ). The release 
> tone - the sound created when a damper bounces against the reed as 
a 
> key is released, is an intrinsic element of what musicians 
recognise 
> as the original `Wurlitzer Sound'.
> 
> During test recordings Thomas Hansen Skarbye determined that the 
> dynamic response of the Wurlitzer was quite different to that of 
the 
> Rhodes. The EP200A exhibits a high degree of `characterful' 
timbral 
> variation in the forte area of its dynamics. Unlike the Rhodes, 
the 
> Wurlitzer piano's action is very light, making it easy for a 
> keyboardist to play continuously in this range of the piano's 
> timbre. In order to capture such a defining element of the piano's 
> personality, Thomas decided to increase the size of the Wurlitzer 
> sampling project by 30%, with additional focus on the forte range 
of 
> the instrument. Once this was accomplished, a proprietary system 
was 
> employed to ensure that the sampler's response to velocity 
variation 
> was identical to the original Wurlitzer's keyboard action.
> 
> To accommodate systems with RAM limitations, several `Lite' 
versions 
> of the piano are included. Lite versions contain the samples of 
the 
> white keys, which are stretched down a semitone to cover adjacent 
> black keys. (3 black keys were kept as they were the last of a 
reed 
> type). Lite versions come in: white keys only 16, 12, 8 and 4 
> velocity layer flavours.
> 
> Why did we go to this much trouble?
> Technology is moving at an increasing pace, with music companies 
> releasing new (almost disposable) instruments every day, but still 
> many of us find ourselves looking to the past for sounds which 
truly 
> inspire us. Organic tones with inconsistencies and chameleon-like 
> character flaws which are very difficult to programme into 
> predictable digital instruments. However, the Wurlitzer is electro-
> mechanical and infamously difficult to maintain. The light action 
> often results in the piano being played quite hard, which leads to 
> cracked reeds, electrical short circuits and tuning problems. 
> Finding a source of Wurlitzer reeds is itself a monumental task in 
> some countries, and using a soldering iron to tune your piano 
isn't 
> anyone's idea of a fun break before the gig. It won't be long 
before 
> it's simply not practical to maintain fragile instruments like the 
> Wurlitzer, let alone tour with them. To date several sample 
> libraries have included limited attempts to describe the EP200A in 
> software, but only recently has the very technology which is 
making 
> the beloved Wurli obsolete supplied the tools we require to 
`capture 
> the soul of the beast'. 
> 
> With the Scarbee W.E.P musicians will have access to the 
> inspirational sounds of the Wurlitzer Electric Piano for 
generations 
> to come - vintage sonic lightning preserved in a cutting-edge 
> software bottle.
> 
> SCARBEE W.E.P will ship in a multi format version containing 24 
bit 
> native Halion, EXS24 mk II and Kontakt versions on 4 CDs or DVD 
for 
> $219 as well as a 1 CD 16 bit Giga version. Registered W.E.P users 
> may purchase the alternate format for $49.00.
> 
> All Scarbee W.E.P. versions can be ordered NOW in our online web 
> shop www.scarbee-shop.com.
> 
> For more information, online manual and demoes visit our web site 
at 
> www.scarbee.com.
> 
> Best regards
> 
> and thanks for your support
> 
> Thomas Hansen Skarbye
> Creative Director, SCARBEE
> Phone: +45 5946 1676
> Email: thomas@s...
> Website: www.scarbee.com
> Web Shop: www.scarbee-shop.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
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